After reading many posts of the last few days that were either incomplete or just entirely inaccurate, I decided that it was finally time to set the record straight. The incident involving the Mustang that drove itself, unoccupied, into a body of water, occurred at our dealership. The simple, unquestionable facts of this unfortunate event are as follows:

•The vehicle was equipped with a remote start system.
•The system was installed in such a way as to circumvent the factory safety systems that would have prevented it from starting in gear.
•By the vehicle owner’s own admission with a County Police Officer present, he stated that he personally installed this aftermarket system and tentionally disabled the factory safety system.
•The vehicle owner used a remote that did not have a “start” button on it.
•The vehicle owner admitted that he never notified our service personnel of the remote start system on his vehicle.
•Despite numerous posts to the contrary, the emergency brake had been set when the vehicle was parked. This was verified by the recovery team.
•The method that was used to park and secure the car is in accordance with manufacturer guidelines.
•The service personnel simply attempted to unlock the vehicle with the remote which led to the remote start event.
•The vehicle owner had conversations with a remote starter retailer prior to the installation. He was advised that his chosen method on installation was “unwise.”
•Several posters advised the owner against his choice even calling it “irresponsible behavior.”

Despite industry professionals advising against his method of installation, the owner of this vehicle apparently chose to ignore this advice. We were extremely fortunate that no one was injured as a result of this as we would be discussing who would be held criminally negligent had there been an injury or death. In light of some of this information, I hope that many of you will start to contemplate the safety of yourselves, your friends, or even your families. Through reading these blogs, I have come to understand that this is an all too common decision made by people on their vehicles. Perhaps this event, however unfortunate, will shed some light on what we believe to be an extremely dangerous and irresponsible modification being performed on
many vehicles. This should serve as a wake-up call to anyone considering performing this modification to their vehicle. Thankfully it was only a car lost and not a life.

This is nice, but this isn't solving the problem. As a dealer, you would want your customers to come back by RESOLVING the problem. This is just a case of you pointing fingers and placing blame on the car owner, not finding a proper solution with the owner of the vehicle and seeing what could be done to fix the problem.

I find it VERY unprofessional that you, the dealer, are handling this situation in this manner.

Don't come into a problem without a solution. This is exactly what I'm seeing here...

At least they stepped up and told their side of the story. This was truely an unfortunate accident, and a lot of the responsibility rests with the owner of the mustang. In the end, even if it goes in court, it will probably end at a medium. It's sad to see a good mustang go to the yard, but I can not give much sympathy to the mustang owner. It was his choice to do something his senses should of told him was wrong.

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